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Thursday, 31 July 2014

Every little thought, idea, experience, interaction goes up as status in the social media. Social media defines the progressive individual in the era of technology. Everyone is connected to one social media or the other. A recent social network called bubblews believes that the users who are a part of this network should also receive a part of its revenue.

THEIR HISTORY:

In the year 2012, an initial version of this network was launched. The version launched was primarily in the form of a beta or test mode. According to the owners, in 2012, there were 2 million visitors to the site from all over the world and with almost ten of the thousands of them posting at the site regularly. From the test version, the company launching bubblews received a capital of about $ 3 million. The owners are now planning to use that capital to launch their developed version.

WHATS NEW ABOUT BUBBLEWS?

According to their owners, Zuccari and Dixit, the other social networking site currently present in the market claims to be a free zone while they keep a track on their user’s history and earns profit from them. Bubblews will be a little different from the other sites. If a user writes a minimum of 400-character post, tracing the personality of the user is not that difficult. This way, every user is not just a cookie that the programmers spy on but an identity the owners could keep a track about.

Every post is made public. This way the site will be the home of active interactions between several individuals on topics ranging from sports to wars. Anyone at any point of time could follow and participate in a discussion.

The version that is to be launched is in English but other languages are under work. This is because the test version was not only used by users from United States but also from places like Canada, Brazil, Philippines, Britain and India.

THE IDEA BEHIND THE CONCEPT?

This is probably the first social networking site willing to share its revenue earned from the advertisements among its users. This is mainly because the owners believe that every time an user is posting something on a social networking site , they are pouring a piece of their heart and that must be acknowledged.

The users are unlikely to become rich for they will receive one per cent per interaction and only receive cash payouts after earning a credit of $50. But the initiative must be acknowledged.

The owners believe that the network is not just the place where user stay connected to have fun but we also find students struggling to buy books, organizations trying to raise money for social endeavours and single parents doing their best for their children. This initiative is for all of them.

A survey that was taken up has shown over 62% of the respondents is willing to try the latest version of bubblews!

If you wish to read from your tablet or any mobile device or catch up on a video, then it is known that we need to tilt the device to an exact angle for which no reflection from the screen occurs. Tired of tilting the devices, users often resort to special filters, which reduce glare.

This problem is consistently persistent with almost all mobile devices, even in the ones, which are extremely advanced. The journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces contains reports from researchers about development of a glass surface that gets rid of reflection as well as glare.

What is being done by the researchers?

It was noted by Valerio Pruneri and colleagues that a lot of effort and focus was being put into development of anti-glare and anti-reflective technology. In this age of cut throat competition related to developments and improvements in the digital sector, any additional feature adds on heavily to a device's value.

Due to the absence of anti-glare and anti-reflection technologies, users have been forced to still invest in buying the screens to get themselves convenience. The researches have come up with a promising solution that includes the use of anti-reflective nano-structures to layer the surface of an anti-glare material. This technology however does not comply with the properties of glass or materials used in various displays of electronic devices.

Pruneri along with his team, at ICFO (The Institute of Photonic Sciences) in collaboration with Prantik Mazumder's team from Corning Incorporated have decided to work on developing new developments regarding this issue.
Novel Glass, a micro and nano-structured glass surface and monolithically integrated, along with features like antireflection, antiglare and super hydrophobic is a sample of the development made in this field of technology.

Details about the technology:

So that the glass becomes anti-reflective, nano-sized teeth are forged into the surface. The glass is resistant to moisture too. When the surface of the glass is wiped, the paper serves as the protection to the anti-reflection property, by adding the antiglare property to the surface.

For the glass surface to withstand rough or heavy touchscreen usage, further research needs to be done, even though the roughening done to enhance anti-glare property preserves the nano-size glass teeth. The glass after roughening scatters light falling on it and thus becomes resistant to moisture and glare, without having any adverse effect on its transparency. The method is seen to be taking reasonable amount of money and can be justifiably used for industrial purpose.

Improvements in this field are taking the correct direction. After an optimum solution is reached for all the problems being faced while researching this issue, the implementation of the result in electronic devices, will greatly enhance the performance and increase the demand among users.

Every small development counts in this competitive market, so the researchers are trying to rule out as many disadvantages and problems as they can at the earliest, to bring about positive and effective developments regarding this issue.

There is a wide range of digital cameras available, so you may not know where to start when deciding which one to buy. A digital camera is a perfect for capturing images and recording videos, but you will need to ensure that you choose one which suits your needs.

Budget

One of the first factors that you will need to consider is your budget. There are economical choices available for those who don’t want to spend too much, but also top of the range options for those who want the best features.

When comparing prices, ensure that you take into account any extras that you may need to purchase. Most cameras come with a battery and a charger, but may only have a memory card with a very small capacity, so be sure to check the prices of compatible memory cards.

Features

When choosing features for your camera, you will need to think about the type of photographs that you will be taking. If you plan to use the camera for a lot of close-ups, one with an optical zoom would be better than digital zoom, as the digital zoom alters the quality.

You will also need to consider the size of image that you want to print. If you intend to print large photographs, an 8-megapixel camera would be better than a 2-megapixel. If you don’t plan on printing any photographs, then a lower megapixel camera should be fine.

Performance

Once you have decided on a camera, it is a good idea to check reviews to ensure that the camera performs well. Digital cameras usually come with many features, but the performance of these features can vary.
The Internet is a useful resource for checking reviews and other tips, so it is worth taking the time to research cameras before making your decision.

The options available range from cameras with basic features for those who just want a simple model, to those with advanced features for those who want to improve their photography skills. Whatever your requirements, you should be able to find a camera to suit your needs.

Is that a bird? An airplane? Or may be superman? No that is the “Pigeon”. Google has recently updated their search algorithm with undisclosed changes and the folks at Search Engine Land have dubbed it “Pigeon” as it lacks any internal names among Google’s mojo and the last one was named “Panda”. The update has only been rolled out in US English searches and will be gradually rolling out for others, though a timeline is not available at the moment. While this has led to a lot of speculation about its effects on rankings and relevance of search result along with more localization, we try to dissect and strain out whatever useful information we can from this update.

What it brings to the Table?

The core changes have happened behind the scenes and are not fully disclosed by Google till now. However, it seems like it is affecting local search results. Some sources have quoted saying that local searches are now more tied to local information in traditional Google search and from Google maps. Talking specifically, you may now see the top carousel displaying contextual and relevant information in a visually appealing package. Also local directory searches are getting more preferences now along with Yelp at top result for searches specifying it, which also implies that individual items don’t show until 2nd page.

What is in it for Business?

The most recently affected are small businesses. Small businesses may see an increment or decrement in their referral count, leads and other statistics. Major directory websites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Urbanspoon are experiencing increased page 1 rankings and some changes in search results. Google has also said that their new algorithm improves parameters such as distance and location ranking significantly, and is aiming to provide more relevant/contextual results for end-users but it may be affecting individual businesses to get a better SERP. Thus more localization can be a boon for directory based searching where as a bane for individual websites thus making your SEM all the more important to stay relevant.

The Reason

We all like to know the whys of every change that happens specially if it affecting us. Thus it is legitimate to ask why this sudden shift in focus? Right at this moment it is more speculation than fact as the rolling out is partial and it will take more analyzing to come out with something concrete. One reason can be the fact that Yelp accused Google of favoring their search results. In addition, users on mobile devices would be happier if searches provided them with detailed location, information and localized information might warrant a shift as mobile is becoming an increasingly important strategy. Hence, it seems like we may have to play the “wait and watch” game for a few weeks.

The Future

Some are already stating that Google has turned the world of digital marketing on its head. For any SEM professional this can be the most challenging and scariest of propositions to deal with. A high degree of adaptability and vision is required to taste success. As it is often said, “Survival of the Fittest”.

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Things develop over time; it evolves and takes the form of something better. In this era of technology and science, it is happening faster than expected. A company based in the beautiful city of Texas, has come up with a brand new technology that will forever change the life of the individuals who spends hours in front of the computer.

Mostly everything that we do with the help of a computer has to do with typing. Pressing keys for hours is not entirely a soothing idea and it often leads to cramping of the finger muscles. Airtype Project that is taken up by this hardware company in Texas have considered all this possibilities and has come up with a brand new technology that will make it possible for the user to type without using a keyboard. Interesting, isn’t it?

WHAT IS THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY?

The Airtype project has come up with a device that has no visual component whatsoever. It comes with a cuff – like unit that picks up sensors. It is placed around the hand near the knuckles. It is like a friendly little bracelet that goes around the knuckles, picks up the signals of the moments that the fingers make while typing, and predicts the keys accordingly. Thus, one can easily move the fingers on any invisible surface and the knuckles will ensure that it projects what the user was hoping to communicate and one could do that without using a keyboard.

The best part this technology also comes with a useful application that very wisely incorporates text predictions and the dynamic feature of text correction. This will help the user achieve more with little efforts. This project taken up by the Texas based Company is probably the first step towards easier typing technologies.

According to the website of Air Type, to make the lives easier for the users the system will further incorporate the unique typing habits of the user concerned. And make the necessary adjustments so that the user could follow the similar pattern on any surface and the sensors picks up the right signal and the communication is easy.

THE CURRENT STATUS:

A lot of people involved in several professional sectors are waiting for this technology to hit the market. Unfortunately, they will have to wait a little bit longer this amazing technology is still in the prototype stage. The developers are willing to launch the product only after running few test runs.

Before this, it was only in movies and science fiction novels that an idea like this was encountered but this will soon become a reality. All of this is possible because of the undying efforts of the developers of Air Type. This is one product that will surely make significant changes once it hits the market and it is indeed one of the first baby steps towards brighter and smarter technologies that will make lives of the user a lot easier and ensure better work every time.

Monday, 28 July 2014

Android is nothing more than a mobile operating system that is currently developed that Google and is more or less a user interface that uses direct manipulation as the base. Mostly used by smart phones and other touch screen devices, this operating system can also be used by other devices such as car, televisions, wrist watches and the list continues. Although, initially it started as an operating system for touch screen devices, now, it serves gaming consoles mostly and other devices as well.

In spite of all the wonders that Android provides a main problem that almost every user using android Smartphone faces is the interface. The interface used is crucial for if it fails to function properly, it will make the Smartphone slow, the functionality will be sacrificed and the most common complaint is that it is plain unattractive.

Often the manufacturer of the Smartphone installs their choices of application on the phone, which the user might not need and that creates a problem other than the problem faced because of the interface concerned. Here is some simple steps that will help any user get the android phone they hoped for.

INSTALLING DIFFERENT LAUNCHER ALONG WITH THE PREFERRED ICON AND LOCK SCREEN:

The spine of any efficient interface is the launcher. A range of attractive launcher is available at Play Store. All the user has to do is select the launcher that the user needs and install it. This is also applicable for older phones and it will automatically customize the present icons. A good idea is to choose this launcher as the default home screen.

Next thing on the list is to select icons that will fit well with the launcher of the user’s choice. Next step is simply downloading it and it is good to work with.

The last step is to select the perfect lock screen. A lot of options are available. Choose the one that fits the requirement.

INSTALLATION OF GOOGLE APP:

There is a wide range of applications that the user is often in the need of. Google understands that, thus, Google has launched a wide range of application that is available at Play Store. Most of the application comes with free download. The user only has to select the application of preference and download it.

Google might have a lot of applications but it doesn’t offer default settings for all of them. This could be because others provide better services.

In spite of all the things that one can possibly change, there are certain things that one can’t. In that case, root the phone if the change is necessary.

Getting a proper customization on the Android phone is no more a difficulty. One just has to know the basic and research on it before actually installing or downloading anything. The best of interfaces and proper applications that support it will ensure a faster, easy to work with phone with all the facilities the user needs.

Facebook is undoubtedly one of the most popular names when it is about being social. Since its inception, Facebook has been quite popular in providing useful and helpful information with respect to various kinds of trending issues and problems. Likewise, Facebook has also recently unveiled an App that is especially dedicated to only famous people.

What is Facebook Mentions App?

The release of any new App nevertheless gains considerable attention from the entire global media. The rank of prominence goes to another level when it is released by a famous and a worldwide name like Facebook. The App thus released actually becomes more like a platform for the existing celebrities and prominent names. This is because as claimed, with the help of this App, the renowned persons or the celebrities can now stay in touch with their respective fans. This new App is named as Facebook Mentions and is supportable only in the Apple's official App Store.

Multiple Facets of One App

Facebook Mentions is really a unique App. It paves the way for only those public figures and personalities who have a verified page on Facebook. This means not all those fake admins of several pages can have any kind of access to it, thus enabling more authenticity and more privacy. As for now, Facebook has not allowed even the brands and other companies to use Facebook Mentions. However, the company claims that it would do that soon in the near future as this App is introduced to the other countries as well, since for now this App is available only in US.

With the help of this App, people can actually start a conversation with those people, who are most talked and most discussed. All these public figures can share their respective photos, videos and much more. In addition, they can share a Q&A session live only with the help of their phones. Along with that, these respective public figures can also be a part of any important or trending conversation, thus being able to know about the viewpoints of their respective fans and lovers.

A break through Step by Facebook

The introduction of this App is really a wise step by Facebook. Apart from connecting the fans to their beloved figures, this App also serves as a platform for all those who are currently at the infancy of fame. Public figures who have just tasted success and are wanting more limelight from public, can readily use this App.

It seems that Facebook is wanting the famous and the renowned people to stay on easier connections with their help. This App actually breaks out from the conventional ideas and notions that called the famous celebrities to rely only on Media for broadcasting and expressing their respective views. Basically, it serves as the role of a middleman.

In each perspective thus, this new Facebook Mentions App comes to be a great help. It is once a simple application and a good opportunity for staying up and close with fans. By this introduction, Facebook yet again showed it is creating better ideas with better opportunities.

Saturday, 26 July 2014

Science and technology with time has really become advanced and more developed in order to open up larger scope of knowledge for the people at large. Likewise recently, the scientists have also experimented with ways out with the use of laser techniques for the recreation of Jupiter's core.

It may at once sound quite improbable and quite impossible as far as the recreation of the planet's core is involved, but the fact remains unchanged that the scientists have actually taken an endeavour to do such a job.

The Attempt of Recreation

Nevertheless, the very core of Jupiter is something that can be really unpleasant. However, in order to know about the formation of such heavenly bodies like planets, it becomes a matter of importance to get a better understanding on the very components of the planets.

Thus for gaining such information and more, a team or panel of scientists at the famous Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had recently made the use of diamonds along with the lasers for the recreation of such similar conditions.

Brief Overview on the Experiment

In total, the scientists sued 176 lasers that included the world's largest laser as well, for compressing the diamond. The chosen diamond was actually subjected to about 50 millions atmospheric pressure or 14 times of the pressure that is present at the Earth's centre. The main reason why diamonds were selected in this experiment is because diamonds are made of carbon and carbon is also the fourth most abundant and found element in the whole universe.

The machine that is used in this experiment is sphere has roughly about 30 feet diameter. The diamond is on the side of a can that is one centimetre high at the very end of a cone. Following this, the ultraviolet rays are typically shot into the top as well as the bottom ends of the present coke can.

Having got the laser shots, the coke can later convert these ultraviolet lights into typical x-rays. In simple terms, the can turns into a uniform x-ray oven. This x-ray bath helps in causing a series of many reactions sending pressure waves inside the present diamond, resulting it to compress.

The entire process, at an approximate, lasted for about few nano seconds, after which the diamond got exploded. As Ray Smith, LLNL physicist, says, “The experimental techniques developed here provide a new capability to experimentally reproduce pressure-temperature conditions deep in planetary interiors.” With such experiments, scientists can also be able to know more about conditions in other planets as well.

Multiple Facets

This whole experiment not only gave rise to similar conditions in planets like Jupiter but also gave rise to the capabilities of diamond, the hardest element known to man as well. Some of the scientists also did not think that diamond would become that stiff as it resulted to.

Definitely, it was supposed and expected to get harder and harder as the compressing took place, but the speed was quite unknown. With these experiments, materials are seen to have different perspectives as well. Like these diamonds, it can be rightly expected as well that other materials also may not be as simple as they seem to be.

Microsoft’s research division is very proactive and always making headways into cutting-edge research and pushing the boundaries of software and hardware. One such innovation is Microsoft’s project Adam – an advanced AI with a manifold performance increment over its predecessors and its competitors along with advanced object recognition technology it incorporates.

Project Adam

At Microsoft’s 5th Research Faculty Summit keynote, Harry Shum, executive vice president of Technology and Research, demonstrated the power of the AI along with its various capabilities. Its primary goal was to recognize any object given to it. It was achieved by culling a massive 14 million image database from Flickr made up of 22k different user-generated tag categories. Using 30 times fewer machines than average, it was used to train Adam – a 2 billion connection neural network and it produces results 50 times faster than the competition.

Adam’s Capabilities

As actions speak louder than words, so a prompt demonstration was given and dogs definitely steal the show. In main aim was to recognize the dog’s breed. In order to make it more interactive it was integrated with Cortana, Microsoft’s very own personal assistant for their windows phone 8.1 lineups. Project Adam researcher Johnson Apacible pointed the phone’s camera at a Dalmatian named Cowboy and it was quick to identify the breed. He then showed a Rhodesian Ridgeback and it was spot-on to identify it too. A Cobberdog lead to some confusion as people said it was Labradoodle whereas Cortana said terrier but both were right. Just for some fun, he then pointed at Shum and Cortana was quick to reply with a negative.

The Possibilities

At the end, Shum quoted that there was a paradigm shift from personal computing to a future where user is the centre and hence it’s not about computing power or storage but people’s time and attention. One day Project Adam might make it possible for people to snap pictures of their skin or infection, identify the cause, and take appropriate medication based on the suggestions. It can also identify the calories contained in a meal by pointing it at the food. Another scenario would be when you are in woods; you would like to differentiate between poisonous and edible plants where it can help too.

Competition

However, as always the case, Microsoft is not alone in this race. In January, Google outbid Facebook to buy “DeepMind” – a London based AI Lab for 400 million. Further Google launched Quantum Artificial Intelligence lab to further study how quantum computing can lead to advances in artificial intelligence. HartmutNeven, Director of engineering for Research team at Google, was quoted saying that machine learning will gain utmost importance in near future with more accurate predictions and better models, which will also help them to produce a more useful search engine.

The Future

In future, we might see Microsoft integrating it with smartphones and Cortana for a richer user experience and make them stand apart from the competition where product differentiation is becoming increasingly difficult.

Over the past few years, Google has exponentially increased its footprints in the field of ubiquitous computing and wearable/embedded technology – a move that is in line with its look towards the future strategy. Google X Project will now collaborate with Alcon (a Novartis child) to bring smart lens to the consumer market. Alcon produces some of the most wide-selling contact lens products including the likes of Air Optix, FreshLook and Dailies. And now both will lock-step to work together to materialize the product. The deal is almost complete, though financial details were not disclosed; only anti-trust approval remains left for the transaction.

What is Smart Lens?

A product of Google research, smart lenses look like traditional lenses but have embedded miniature electronic circuits in them running sophisticated software, which makes them “smart”. This merger will see the coming together of Google’s efforts in circuit miniaturization of circuits and Novartis’s deep pharmaceuticals and medical device expertise. This technology involves non-invasive sensors and miniature microchips, which are embedded in the lens. Ophthalmic electrochemical sensors are designed to measure glucose levels and provide real-time feedback, which will be sent to your smartphone. In addition, the lens may also offer adaptive vision corrective measures for presbyopic patients.

The Aims

Novartis interest in this technology is focused currently on two key areas i.e.
• Helping diabetic patients to continuously monitor their blood glucose levels using their “smart lens” which those levels from tear fluids in eyes and then beams it to your smartphone.

• For people with presbyopia, it can provide accommodative vision correction to help restore eye’s normal focus, either as a, accommodative contact lens or intraocular lens as part of the refractive cataract treatment.

Both Google and Alcon are expecting to break new grounds using their combined strength and help millions who suffer from diabetes. In addition, it may fit into Google’s “Android Wear” wearable device paradigm, which is rapidly gaining headways and ubiquity.

Novartis Chief Executive Joe Jimenez hopes that the product will be out by the next 5 years.Though Alcon’s global external communications director Elizabeth Harness Murphy was quick to point out that they still don’t have exact time frames as to when it may hit the market for consumers as they are working on a prototype right now.

The Future

With Google already making headways with its Google Glass product and other wearable technology, it was inevitable and who better then Novartis. This deal fits perfectly in Google’s scheme of things. With the rise of health conscious gadgets and many competitors slowly starting to enter the market (which also might include their fiercest rival Apple), this deal was of utmost importance.

The deal has indeed come in time when drug makers and healthcare companies are looking for modern diagnostic methods to lower the cost of chronic disease monitoring for patients. While this deal only seems to be the eye, Novartis is looking towards remote patient monitoring in heart failure.

With major giants aligning interests together, the future of wearable computing and innovative disease monitoring seems to be ushering.

Friday, 25 July 2014

A recent study of 5,000 cybersecurity professionals has found that ineffective communication between security specialists and company executives is one of the biggest barriers to reducing the number of cyber attacks made on company computer systems.

Of the 5,000 respondents to the survey, 31 percent said that they had never sat down with an organisation’s top brass to talk about cybersecurity, while 23 percent said they met execs to discuss cybersecurity just once a year.

This is a cause for concern for cybersecurity professionals who share a common gripe about the general lack of understanding about the link between loss of data, and loss of revenue. This is hardly surprising given just how infrequently the two parties communicate.

To combat this lack of understanding and the scarcity of skills which is particularly prevalent in the public sector, private ftp alternative providers such as Thru are being hired, via the G-Cloud, to increase awareness and improve the level of cybersecurity within government agencies.

The increase in agility

In an increasingly agile world where businesses want to be able to respond instantly to new opportunities or a change in customer demand, security can often come as an afterthought.

However, as attackers change their tactics, it is essential that cybersecurity professionals are in regular contact with company executives to increase their understanding of the new threats that arise as a result of new opportunities.

Executive teams should understand what threats the business faces, what the capabilities are within the company to defend against those threats, and whether a threat is industry specific or targeted at the business in particular. This approach makes it easier to identify weaknesses within the organisation and improve cybersecurity in the future.

Cybersecurity discontentment

The research also revealed an underlying discontentment harboured by a good proportion of the survey’s respondents with the current security systems in place. In fact, some 29 percent of respondents said they’d like to overhaul their current security, while 13 percent said there would be no point changing anything about their current system as a determined attacker would be able to breakthrough whatever systems were in place.

These statistics are quite telling and reveal just how underprepared many cybersecurity professionals feel in the face of increasingly sophisticated attacks.

New advice on passwords

To change the subject slightly, Microsoft has managed to increase the discontentment of a few security experts with its latest advice on passwords.

The recommendation, which flies in the face of the advice many cybersecurity professionals have been dishing out for the past decade or so, advises users to identify the importance of a particular application, and assign a password which is comparative in strength. So, relatively weak passwords should be used to protect less important websites, while strong passwords should be used to access important applications, such as banking.

However, some experts have come to the defence of conventional wisdom, claiming this approach would be just as burdensome for consumers as choosing a strong password for every site.

In an article in TechNewsWorld, the senior director of a leading cybersecurity provider, said: “Regular users have trouble distinguishing what ‘important’ and ‘non-important’ services are. Most people understand that banking is important – but the distinction is not always clear on other services.

“Password re-use is a significant threat, both to individual users and organisations. As users choose the same passwords for online and organisational services, the organisation’s exposure to attack grows.”

Does your cybersecurity team regularly communicate with the top brass? If not, do you think this approach would help to improve your security? And what do you make of this latest advice on passwords? We’d love to hear from you, so please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

AUTHOR BIO

James Davies is a tech blogger and internet start-up owner based in Southend-On-Sea. When he’s not blogging for some of the UK’s most authoritative websites, James can be found paddle boarding and windsurfing. He’s not very good at either, but that’s by-the-by.

Cell phones have become indispensible in the last decade or so. Cheap prices along with a wide range of choices have resulted in almost everyone having a cellphone. But even though life has become a lot easier thanks to this device, people nowadays have to face a new challenge, the challenge of keeping their phones adequately charged.

Though charging is a fairly while at work or at home, it becomes difficult when people are outdoors, i.e. away from power outlets. Even though power banks have solved this dilemma to some extent, they still have certain flaws regarding their affordability/availability.

Thus it is clearly seen that there is a need of a device which can easily charge cellphones by harnessing something which is naturally available or something which is not directly related to a power source. Water covers more than 2/3rds of our planet’s surface & is present in abundance in our surroundings & it would be amazing if a device can be invented which could utilize this abundance & harness power from it to run our cellphones. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) have helped mankind realize this dream.

Mechanism: -

Researchers namely, Nenad Miljkovic and Evelyn Wang have come across the fact that when water drops jump spontaneously while coming in contact with super-hydrophobic (water repelling) surfaces, during condensation, they carry an electric charge.

They also stated that a device consisting of interleaved plates can be created to utilize this fact to power cellphones. As water droplets will jump, they will come in contact with one plate & another carrying their charge.

This chare can be harnessed as power by constructing an external circuit across the said plates. The device can be made of any conducting material, even something as cheap & abundant as aluminium, thus potentially reducing its cost. Another perk of this system is that it can also produce clean water.

In humid environments, this device can simply harness power from the surrounding atmosphere provided that a temperature difference exists between the surroundings & the device for condensation to take place.

Even though the process will be time consuming, it is a boon for people who have to operate in remote areas where conventional power sources are difficult to come across. It can also be use to power remote, automated environment sensors.

Implications: -

Once a producible version of this device is available, a huge part of energy crisis will be solved also as people will no longer have to depend on fossil-fuel generated electricity. The energy harnessed will be clean, cheap & virtually infinite in terms of amount & availability.

Pollution issues will be solved to some extent as well. Clean water, another compelling requirement in today’s world can be generated as well thanks to this device.

People will be tension free when it comes to keeping their cell phones powered 24*7. Thus, once again technology comes to the rescue to rid mankind of misery & improve the quality of life.

Thursday, 24 July 2014

Science is progressing daily. Every second of every day someone in some part of the world is creating something new and innovating. But Science and technology have its backlogs too. One of the major side effects of developing technology is pollution.

The irony is to compact these side effects we need the help of science. In the Kalsruhe Institute of Technology, a technology is being developed that will enable the smart phones to measure and determine the level of particulate matter present in the atmosphere. But the accurate calculation of the particulate level in the atmosphere for a crowded city or a large region will need conservable amount of manpower.

THE IDEA:

The idea is to attach a sensor to the smart phones that will calculate the particulate matter level in the atmosphere and in turn generate effective pollution maps for that particular area. The idea is still under consideration and the research is going on this particular topic. But what is yet to be determined is exactly how many persons will be required for this project to generate a reliable and accurate pollution map for a certain area.

THE PROGRESS:

Kalsruhe Institute of Technology is not the first intuition to work in this field. Other institutions have worked on a similar idea before Kalsruhe. At the University of California, a project was undertaken by a group of researchers who explore the same idea. Back in the year 2010, smart phones were used to read the levels of particulate matter and researchers were under the impression that by installing an app in the smart phones, light could be emitted via the LED’s flash from the built in camera and photos pertinent to the topic were analysed.

The researchers at KIT went further ahead and attached a light trap to the concerned phone to receive more accurate and reliable results. A low cost dust sensor was also adapted.

In another year or two , researchers hope to develop a production version of this product with a newer version of the sensor that will calculate fine dust along with course dust. Photos could also be stored and preserved in the future version increasing the effectively of the product. This form with be supported by a magnet which will suit the needs of the application in the smart phones.

THE PROBLEM:

In spite of all this, a slight problem still remains. This application will be used by the general public and researchers are doubtful about how this application will be used by the public.

No matter what the negative consequences of the application might be, this is certainly a ground-breaking idea in the field of science. This will help to solve a number of health issues especially in over populated and busy cities. With the help of accurate pollution maps, necessary measures could be taken for a particular region to protect and preserve their environment. The health department could concentrate on a particular area with this app.

Windows Phone is one of the most revolutionary merchandise that dominates the whole mobile phone market. While Android has been leading the market for quite a long time, the whole range of Windows Phones seem to take a good lead in this competition as well.

Importance of Apps

Applications or rather Apps have always had a special place in today's smartphones. Likewise, Microsoft too understanding this fact is keeping up to date with the most recent and most important Apps. The much-awaited release of Window 8.1 also is loaded with a whole lot of Apps.

One such App, which is confirmed to be given along with the Windows 8.1 version, is the Fitbit App. Especially for all those who are really health conscious and love to stay fit no matter what may come, this App is quite beneficial. In its essence, it is basically a health management service. This App actually monitors the regular activities of any person. As for example, it tracks the sleeps of one and also about that person's respective weight.

Windows phones users can now easily maintain a healthy body. For using this App, the user must have a Fitbit account and if one does not have that he or she needs to sign up which has been kept free by the Fitbit Company. Having an account will not only let the user use the App as per his or her needs and requirements, but will also enable him or her to use the other Fitbit devices as well.

Features Users can Avail

This useful healthy App includes such important tools and information that will be able to synchronize the life of any one. It provides daily historical graphs, that lets the user to understand of his or her steps, calorie burn as well as floor climbing patterns.

Also it provides a BMI trend graphing. Basically it tracks the daily activities that any normal person faces in real life. Knowing all about the daily processes, any person is liable to know what is right or wrong for health, following which the proper activities can be taken into account.

Moreover, since they are coming with a Windows 8.1 combination, things become simply smoother and faster. One can track the daily activities on the go, no matter which place is it or what time is it. Also with the help of this App, users can measure themselves against the present Fitbit friends.

A Wise Decision

The introduction of the Fitbit App is really useful as well as important in order to stay ahead in the competition. Like in Android and IOS phones, Microsoft in order to hold an important and competitive rank in the smartphones market, needed to take this step.

In each aspect, this step taken by Microsoft is indeed a wise one. It breaks free from the conventional Apps that are generally presented by the Windows, like Xbox games and social networking applications. Microsoft like always thus is successful again to present a literally “healthy” competition.

May it be a small business or a big one, stationery has been a part of offices since inception. Moreover, amongst all the equipments, the printers have
made our lives simpler. It helps you in proper documentation, presentation and what not. One click operation and you get the best documents with custom
fonts, colours, figures and images. However, when it comes to printers, maintenance is something that is usually a concern. Maintenance mostly comprises of
cleaning and changing of the toner cartridges or refilling it. Tough task it may seem, but with the dependable guide to the best toner cartridges, you will
be able to learn about the best toner cartridges, prices, offers, their
maintenance and much more. Keep reading to understand your printing needs even better.

Types of toner cartridge:

A few top companies that manufacture printers are HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark, Brother, and Samsung. The not
only manufacture printers, they also manufacture toner cartridges. Also, there are a number of companies selling toner cartridges apart from the original
manufacturers. However, the best option is to choose the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) cartridge as it is not only compatible with your printer,
but also saves you the uncertainty of your cartridge running out or getting non-functional during the hour of need. The only hindrance in choosing an OEM
toner cartridge is that they are comparatively expensive. There are other options as well, like remanufactured toner cartridges, where-in toner cartridges
are made up of recycled or refurbished parts of an old toner cartridge.

They are reasonably priced as compared to an OEM toner cartridge. However, one
cannot vouch on its performance. Apart from these two, there are generic toner cartridges as well, but they are very uncertain in their performance and if
it so happens that they are not compatible with the printer. It might hamper the performance of the printer as well. So, usually people don’t prefer
generic toner cartridges for their printers. One more option is the refill toner kit, but the same being very expensive and complicated in exercising; it
is best advised to stay away from this option.

Pricing and sustainability:
Toner cartridges are usually priced as per the page yield or the brand of the OEM cartridge. Page yield is the number of pages that can be printed before
the printer runs out of the toner. As mentioned earlier OEM cartridges are mostly expensive. However, one can choose a more economic option by choosing a
remanufactured toner cartridge, if someone has a budget issue. Remanufactured toner cartridges are usually available for half of the price of an OEM
cartridge. Many stationery stores offer wholesale discounts or quantity discounts on toner cartridges.

So, bulk purchase can also help in cost saving. The
only care to be taken is to store toner cartridge in the right position and under the right temperature, as sunlight and heat can cause serious damage to
the toner particles. Another good way to buy a toner cartridge is to order it online. Online stores offer a wide range of OEM, remanufactured, generic
toner cartridges and refill toner kits. They make it super simple as they offer a wide range of products to select from but also enable a person to choose
the exact specific toner for their printer. Additionally, online stores offer good discounts on the products. It is easy and convenient and you get your
toner cartridge at your door step.

Maintenance of toner cartridge:
Now, mere choosing the right cartridge isn’t enough, one needs to maintain the toner cartridge properly. So, below are a few check points that can help in
maintenance of your toner cartridge and your printer.

1. If your printer is showing low toner levels, don’t rush in to installing a new cartridge. Always check for clogged nozzles, clean the cartridge with a
damp cloth and also change the font settings. Reinstall the cartridge and try running it once again.

2. Before installing a new cartridge, shake it gently or rock it side by side. This ensures that all the powder is evenly distributed before the cartridge
is installed.

3. One has to keep a check on the printer settings, make sure ‘toner saver’ mode is on. The font is ideal font without much bold and large font text. Also,
the printing should ordinarily be done in the draft mode.

4. Nevertheless, the use of paper should be optimum and printing should be done wisely. As it is best to save paper than to waste it.

Mozilla is a well-known company, which is a part of the free software community. It is popular for making the widely used browser- Mozilla Firefox.

This community is known to use, develop, advertise and support Mozilla products. It thus promotes availability of free software and open standards having nearly negligible exceptions. The Mozilla community is institutionalised under the Mozilla Foundation.

Apart from the browser, Mozilla has also produced Thunderbird, Firefox OS for mobile devices, Firefox Mobile, Bugzilla, i.e. the system used to track down web bugs.

About repackaging Firefox OS apps for Android:

This company has now undertaken the endeavour of repackaging Firefox OS apps to make them compatible with and usable in the Android platform.

Mozilla aims to make Web apps and Open Web Apps the epicentre of smart phone experience by making use of the Firefox OS.The devices with the Firefox OS is cheaper than other modern day smart phones. Survey says that Android is the most popularly used mobile phone OS.

By repackaging the Firefox apps for the android platform, the company is delving into a new realm. Previously, it had already made packages of the Firefox OS apps to suit the desktop OS such as Windows, OS X, and Linux etc. It is their first attempt in repackaging for mobile OS.

It has already launched the repackaged apps. All the users of the repackaged Firefox OS apps in android platform are able to download and install the apps from the Firefox Marketplace. These apps will behave like all other commonly used Android Apps.

A developer gets the provision of making his own personally customised Open Web App for Firefox OS devices and make that app available to millions of users of Firefox for Android users all over the world. The developer does not have to change a single line of code, making his task so much more user.

To install and use apps that have been repackaged, the user has to allow unknown sources to make the installation of the app.

The repackaged apps have been built using HTML5. They are different from the native apps found normally on Android, iOS or Windows platform. At the initiation of making Firefox IS, Mozilla made use of Boot 2 Gecko.

Get yourself acquainted with the company's plans and undertakings:

The Mozilla Company has expressed its wish to make the Firefox OS apps compatible with the iOS platform too.

But the iOS platform does not possess the option of installing a web browser that is Gecko-based. This sort of web browser is essential for support Open Web Apps and its unavailability is preventing the repackaging of the Firefox apps in the iOS platform.

So that iOS compatibility can be achieved, Mozilla has collaborated with Apache Cordova. Mozilla has been reported to have signed deals with companies in India and Taiwan so that it can market its devices in these countries.

Android is probably the next big thing! It is everywhere; from smart phones to tablets and even wearable devices such as watches. It provides the
applications that entertain us and at the same time, keeps us updated about the things we take interest in.

Android essentially is an operating system that
is generally used for smart phones and the user-friendly tablets. But that was in the past. A lot of Companies have designed methods that enable the user
to run an android application in their PC.

Out of all these applications available in the market, one application has successfully managed to take care of
this problem with 100% reliability. The application being Bluestacks. Bluestacks is not just reliable, at the same time it is quick and easy to handle.

HOW TO CONVERT?
To get the android application running on the PC a few simple steps needs to be followed.

The primary step is to find the Bluestacks application online.

Next step is to click the download App Player on Bluestacks. The windows user will have to choose windows, which is available on the left side of the
page and a MAC user have to click on Mac available at the right.

Now, the major step, open their setup file and follow the instructions in the exact order they have provided and install Bluestacks.

After the installation process is taken care of, the next step is to run the application. If the installation process is successful an option to start
Bluestacks will pop-up on the screen. Click on that and the process is complete.

Installing Bluestacks is simple. It is like downloading any other application. The instructions provided by them and simple and easy to follow.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE ANDROID APPS?
After successfully downloading the Bluestacks application, downloading an android app is rather simple. The users only have to click on to Google Play and
select the application and continue with the download process. The best part is Bluestacks is up and running on the PC , the user could sync the installed
apps between the android device and the PC to suit the need of the user.
Bluestacks does not support the application Whatsapp, other than that all the applications run successfully in this medium.

IS IT FREE?
Well, Bluestacks is free for a short span of time. After that period the user will have to pay a minimum charge to keep the application running. One could
also download a number of sponsored applications on a daily basis and delete the program once the installation is complete.

Thanks to Bluestacks using the android applications in the PC or a MAC book is no more a matter of trouble. One could easily enjoy those special
applications in their PCs by simply downloading this reliable application. Playing temple run or subway surfer during the lunch break at work or in between
classes will no longer be a problem.

Heart rate monitors are devices that give one a way to measure their heat rate. It can be done in real time or recorded for reference later on. They are widely used by athletes and those who regularly perform physical activities.

Earlier versions included a separate monitoring box with electrode leads that one would have to attach to their chest. Wireless monitors were developed by the 1970’s, and they were used in cross country ski training. As more people became interested in high intensity training, the monitors became quite popular. By the 1980’s, anyone who worked out regularly found them to be a very useful device.

There are three main categories of these heart rate monitors. This includes finger sensor models that are commonly seen in hospital settings, chest strap models used with treadmills, and the more practical wrist watch versions. One can find several styles on the market. Many will have additional features that help with things such as weight loss, recovery, or intense training routines. They are readily available through online sites such as heartratemonitors.com or any store selling exercise or medical related items.

Those who can benefit the most from the use of such devices include walkers and joggers. They can get more out of exercising by aiming for heart rates that are fat burning or aerobic target zones. Runners will use them to keep in their ideal target zone during both intense and easier training sessions. Some models can also alert the user if they are becoming dehydrated or reach a deficit in nutrition.

Cyclists use these monitoring devices when on the road, trails, or even stationary bikes. Hikers, skiers, and climbers can keep track of their heart condition when going up in altitude, and then they can record their reaction to thrills on the way down. Anyone interested in weight loss will want a version that displays the number of calories being burned while exercising. This helps them target which routines provide the maximum in fat burning abilities.

Along with the monitor’s many uses in athletics, they are a valuable piece of equipment to patients and doctors involved with rehab. Rehab patients, especially cardiac patients, rely on the real time readings. It allows them and their physician to safely return their bodies back to full strength.

To make the Android OS faster and even more easilyaccessible, the Android Launcher is used. They are considered to be apps and can be fetched from the Google Play Store. The launcher serves as the application for your home screen. It launches the different other apps downloaded on your phone. Generally an Android phone comes with a default launcher, but if yours doesn’t have one, downloads it from the Google App store.

Let us give you a glance of the best five Android launchers you could use.

• Nova Launcher: This launcher has the highest rating from its users. This app can be highly customised as per the user's requirement, and significantly accelerates the performance of the phone. Accurate and efficient tricks replace the style icons of the age-old Ice-cream sandwiched version with the newly launched, updated version Kitkat. To use this launcher, the phone should have an Android version of 4.0 and above.The home screen can be made to look even more attractive by adding interesting, yet subtle shadows that seem to induce depth to the screen, giving it an eye-catching effect.

• ADW: This launcher has been widely used and accepted. It is compatible with android phones having versions 1.6 and above. There is a wide range of designs that innovative designers have come up with, from which you can choose. Its compatibility with old versions of android has made it more acceptable. Some people have been found to hold a fondness towards the previous versions. Using this launcher, you could make your Kitkat version look like Gingerbread. It also has options of themes used in Ubuntu, Black Glass, Minimalist and themes used in devices like Galaxy Note III and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

• Action Launcher: The large number of users of this app have given positive remarks and recommended this app too. The launcher requires use of an android version 4.0.3 and above. This launcher makes your home screen even more interactive and organised. They create and launch different widgets that can be accessed by swiping the app's icon. You can launch the home screen from the right edge of the screen. It includes a feature called covers that can be used to group icons. The Shutter option can be used to group widgets.

• Apex Launcher: This launcher requires your phone to have an android version of 4.0.3 and above. It is a host to a large number of happy users. It provides attributes like elastic scrolling of the screen and also equips a desktop that can be locked to ensure that no changes are made to the phone without prior permission. The interesting transition effects, splendid drawer-styles and an updated theme engine with plentiful designs for skins and icons are available. Popular designs from third-party companies, like the theme of the much-desired HTC Sense UI, are also available.

• Transparent Screen Launcher: This launcher can be used by android users with versions 2.2 and above. The transparent screen concept is truly an innovative idea, but unfortunately it has not been executed properly. The idea is that the home screen of your phone will appear transparent which will be done by using your phone's camera. You can thus enjoy the provision of viewing what is behind the phone screen even when you keep looking at the screen.

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Samsung has proved the massive strength of its patent protection portfolio in signing cross patent contracts enabling a wider cross use of patents along with the other global IT companies.

They have joined hands with Qualcomm for mobile phones, Kodak for camera technology, and Rambus for the entire semiconductor productsas well as Sharp for LCD panel module together with deals with IBM and Microsoft MS for cross license of technologies on mobile devices operation system.

By joining in partnership with MS they have obtained a variety of basic patent rights with regards to MS technological operating system together with the synergies that are presumed to be generated during the development of the forthcoming mobile phone products.

Patent rights application for a method and an apparatus to transmit and receive converted format of digital rights object between a device and a portable storage device has been granted to Samsung.

Apparatus needed in processing a digital rights object includes transmitting, receiving module for receiving rights object expressed in Markup language from a rights user, a rights object converting module in converting the rights object in a frame which has a format for communicating with a portable storage device, an interface for connecting with portable storage device and a control module in providing the frame to portable storage device via the interface together with receiving the converted format of the rights objects from the portable storage device through the interface.

Call Switching Services

The present invention is related to call switching services especially relating to method, device and system for the performance of call switching services without any interruptions of an on-going call.

With amazing progress done in the field of technology, mobile devices have gained immense popularity wherein it provides not only a voice call service but also video call service, data transmission service together with other additional services involving the user in a multimedia communication activity.

Progress is also being made in enabling various electronic devices rather than the traditional communication equipment for the operation of data communication equipment by assigning a specific address structure like Internet Protocol – IP address.

Based on specific address, these electronic devices have the capabilities to offer voice call services, video call service as well as various other data transmission services through the communication network to the user.

Solutions through System/Method/Device

If a user is using a voice call service through his mobile device and intends to use it continuously through data communication equipment, he may go through inconvenience by having to stop the current call and then reconnect a new call with the help of data communication equipment giving rise to new approach to call switching between a mobile device and data communication equipment.

The present invention is to address these issues by providing solutions to the user through a system, method and device to perform call switching service in which a call switching is enabled between the mobile devices with a mobile communication network together with any data communication equipment using another kind of communication network with any interruption of a call.

Tuesday, 22 July 2014

Mobile devices or smartphones' applications focussing on health management is the latest trend that is rising in the mobile phones' market. Today most of the leading companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft are trying to promote a healthy lifestyle with the introduction of such Apps, that will help a person to attain a good health on a long term basis in an easy way.

Anticipating the Launch of Google Fit

Like the other competitors Google too is planning to launch its fitness health management App, which has been named Google Fit, most probably in their Google I/O conference. Google has taken this wise step with all probability not to lag behind in competition. As per sources, this App has been planned for the collection and aggregation of data from many other popular fitness trackers.

More Competition

Google has already been in the market posing quite a good competition to its competitors. The introduction of such a useful health service, anticipates a challenge to companies like Apple.

Especially with the dawn of Apple's health management App Health Kit, Google too needed to step ahead to provide similar services to the people at large. While this App can be quite like a marketing strategy for some, on the other hand, for the common people who love to stay fit, this App is really more like a blessing.

Apart from the expected features, many sources also claim that this App may partner other health devices that would be too synchronizing the health activities on a regular basis, thus making a platform which is called Android Wear, thus allowing and enabling the users to track their regular activities like steps as well as heart rate for interfacing with the Google's preferred cloud-based service.

However, some information is yet unclear and vague with respect to this health service. Many sources yet cannot confirm whether this Google Fit App will be a built in service for the next Android version or the users need to download it independently.

Helping Hand for Good Health

Google had been in this health service field for quite a long time. After the shutdown of Google Health that was also quite like a health portal, the Google Fit seems to say that Google is always concerned with the health of the people at large.

There are always a pretty number of health care Apps in the Google Play already. One example is the game Zombies, Run! The game makes the combination of gamification as well as fitness techniques since the players need to escape from the zombies either by running or by jogging.

But the Google Fit might actually push all such related health services a bit behind since this might be the official health service App. There are chances that people might actually take their health seriously, as this App might be regulating their daily or regular physical activities.

Till now Google has been quite dominant in the market because of its Android products and services. With the release of this App, Google might actually continue to stay ahead in competition. Till then we all need to wait!